What if China discovered the New World?

[Civciv5]

Sorry,I forgot to post a poll with that other thread,please post answers here.
What would have happened if China discovered the New World?
PS:around 1420-1490 and with the New World I mean North and South America and later Australia,"China at the Ming Dynasty during the reign of Yongle.

 

[LightSpectra]

When? In what context of altered circumstances? What effect do these altered circumstances have on the world otherwise? How would the "what if" be determinable given how these altered circumstances make this hypothetical scenario so different from our world? With how many people did "China" discover the New World? What does "China" even mean in this scenario? What part of the New World did they discover? How much different is their naval technology, and where/when/how did those changes come about to differentiate this hypothetical scenario from our world? How do you know how much of the New World these hypothetical Chinese explorers would see, i.e. how do you know if they would discover gold or other valuable things on their first visit? What meaning could we derive from any of these, given the fact that the answers are assuredly arbitrary and in no way related to actual history?

Answer those with reasonable veracity and I'll take a swing at it.

 

[christos200]

The united sates of america would have been communists, europeans poor, christianity would have been replaced by budhhism and the natives americans may have survived.

 

[Leoreth]

The united sates of america would have been communists, europeans poor, christianity would have been replaced by budhhism and the natives americans may have survived.

What? I mean, what? I mean ... WHAT?

 

[Joecoolyo]

Zheng He would fly to moon using his magic flying battleships.

 

[sophie]

Australia would have become a full blown potential superpower, rather than a potential potential superpower.

 

[Huayna Capac357]

I think it's impossible to know what would have happened, and since it didn't, there's little point to speculating. The Native Americans still would have been wiped out by disease, and the Europeans still would have come, so most likely it would have ended up like normal, except a Chinese presence on the West Coast for a while.

 

[carmen510]

Basically, what LightSpectra said.

Also, it's likely that the Chinese would not have cared much about the New World and abandoned it, if they were unable to find anything of use (primarily gold).

 

[bombshoo]

The united sates of america would have been communists, europeans poor, christianity would have been replaced by budhhism and the natives americans may have survived.

This is exactly what would happen.

Australia would have become a full blown potential superpower, rather than a potential potential superpower.

This too.

 

[W|M]

Assuming Chinese ships reached the New World, it would have been extremely costly, time-consuming, hard, and ultimately unprofitable and futile to make any attempt at colonization.

 

[LightSpectra]

Australia would have become a full blown potential superpower, rather than a potential potential superpower.

This answer wins the thread.

 

[Theige]

Assuming Chinese ships reached the New World, it would have been extremely costly, time-consuming, hard, and ultimately unprofitable and futile to make any attempt at colonization.

Why would there be so little colonization? China surely had overpopulated areas and population pressures at various times over the colonial time period in which people would have wanted to find a better life.

 

[ParkCungHee]

They also had loads of easier places to colonize.

 

[Dachs]

Why would there be so little colonization? China surely had overpopulated areas and population pressures at various times over the colonial time period in which people would have wanted to find a better life.

It was decidedly cheaper and more beneficial to the state to do internal colonization, which, not coincidentally, is what the Ming and Qing states spent most of the period between ~1400 and ~1800 doing. (With that amusing little hiccup in the seventeenth century, of course.)

 

[jtb1127]

What about the fact that it would take China nearly twice as long to get to America then it would take a European?

 

[Dachs]

That's one of the reasons why it was cheaper not to go!

 

[Lord Baal]

I voted "the Qing dynasty never collapsed and China won world war II of Japan and conquered much of Asia," because it is clearly the most likely option. It's just obvious. Chinese discovery of the New World would lead to absolutely no changes whatsoever anywhere in the world except for China, five hundred years later. It's just logical, people.

 

[WWTVICTOR]

The Chinese are lacking of grains and white silver (their currency), I believe that they will become a superpower...

I wonder why United States is in this poll, US declared independence in 1776...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Declaration_of_Independence

China at the Ming Dynasty during the reign of Yongle.

His reign 1402-1424 A.D..

 

[Plotinus]

Moderator Action: Alt-hist questions like this aren't acceptable in this forum. You have to present a reasonable and plausible scenario, and explain why it's reasonable and plausible, and why it's interesting. It's not enough to suggest something incredibly major and vague like China discovering "the New World" without any context or explanation whatsoever. That is not history, not even alt-history, it is just fantasy. You're welcome to ask "what if" questions but they have to make historical sense. Also, please don't start duplicate threads.